


Always with You

by lunarsilverwolfstar



Series: Random Prompts, Multiple Fandoms [7]
Category: Alice (2009)
Genre: F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Sickfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-04
Updated: 2016-02-04
Packaged: 2018-05-18 06:34:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 594
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5902033
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lunarsilverwolfstar/pseuds/lunarsilverwolfstar
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Prompt: "Please, don't leave me." "Hey, I'm with you, okay? Always."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Always with You

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Endelda](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Endelda/gifts).



> Prompted by Endelda/imadethisblogtofollowyou! I requested different pairs and, boy, did she deliver! Was very happy to write for a ship I haven't written for in a while. Even more excited because Through the Looking Glass will be released in theaters this year and, yes, I ship that Hatter and Alice, too! In fact, it was because of Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland that I even discovered this miniseries! Anyway, hope you enjoy this ficlet!

Hatter whimpers as another spasm of pain wracks his body. He coughs, his chest constricting without letting up. He can’t breathe! Does he even know how? Is he allowed to? Gasping and choking, he thinks this was the end.  


Then, a warm, damp cloth is pressed on his forehead, gentle digits caress his face.

Forcing himself to open his eyes, he just manages to catch a pair of blue ones staring at him worriedly. For a minute he doesn’t know where he is, much less _who_ she is. And yet, somehow he knows she is safety and caring and love. “Please, don’t leave me,” he rasps out, as his face is cleaned. He can feel the cloth catching his stubble. How long has he been out?

“Hey, I’m with you, okay? Always,” she whispers softly.

The words are familiar somehow. He manages a small quirk of his lips before darkness befalls him once more. This time, he isn’t afraid. For her, he will fight an army and slay the dragon.

——

Alice stares down at Hatter, lips pressed together as she fights the tears that threaten to spill. She will not cry when he needs her to be strong.

It’s been six months since her visit to ‘Wonderland,’ six months since she woke up in the hospital, thinking it had all been a dream. Six months since she was reunited with her father, only to lose him again, knowing this time it was permanent. Six months since the Hatter showed up with a name, a job, and a promise that he would always be there for her.

After having so many people giving her promises they never kept, somehow she knew he was telling the truth. However, neither had foreseen this.

A couple of weeks ago, the weather had begun to change, summer transitioning into fall, and with the cold, it brought the inevitable flu season. It was still early on, all things considered. Still, her mother had pushed her to get the shot and even though she hated needles, she went ahead or else she’d never get it done. Dragging Hatter with her, she made him get it too.

Days later, he started coughing and moaning of a headache. Alice rolled her eyes and told him to brew up his favourite tea as she went into the fridge to grab a bit of ginger. A few days later, he’s not getting any better so she made him go to the doctor’s. They prescribed some medicine and sent him on his way.

The cough syrup and ibuprofen do nothing except help him sleep, just barely. By the end of the week, his ribs were hurting and his fever rose and fell as it saw fit. Curled up in a ball, Hatter admitted he’d never been ill before, not even as a child. It was one of the few luxuries of his world.

She immediately felt contrite. She’d dismissed his symptoms as a case of ‘man flu’ and had even teased him. Alice couldn’t imagine how it would feel to be sick after thirty years of relative health. He’d suffered from beatings, hunger, and the elements, but never had he felt his body wage a war with itself. She requested more time off from work (just because she thought it was man flu, doesn’t mean she’d left him to fend for himself) and has been by his side ever since.

——

When Hatter finally starts recovering, the first thing he sees is Alice’s beautiful, sleeping face resting by his hand. Right where he knew she would be.


End file.
